Real-World Transformers Come One Step Closer to Reality

Meet ‘J-deite Quarter’, a fully functional, five-feet (1.3 m) tall prototype that can change into a three-foot-long (90 cm) mini sports car. The real-life Transformer has been created by Kenji Ishida from Japan-based company Brave Robotics, Wataru Yoshizaki from Asratec Corp and Tomy, the company that produced the original Transformers.

J-deite Quarter can morph into a mini two-seater can drive up to 6 mph, walk at 0.6 mph and move its arms, hands and fingers when it’s in robot mode. It can operate for roughly one hour on a single charge.

What exciting things can we expect from this project in the future? As the developers wrote on their website, the Transformer is to become even more real between now and 2020. “The goal of Project J-deite is building of a giant transformable robot of that is 5 m long. It is the same size as a car. An object of the same size transforms, walks, and runs.” Whether the car could have a passenger inside is not clear at this point.

You can see the current state of the project in action in the YouTube clip below:

In the robot world, turning into a car is not the only possibility out there. Self-configuring robots are becoming a trend in robotics, with other creators having unveiled robots that can turn into furniture for example—a little less cool than a car, but much more household-friendly.